Bits and Pieces

Bits and Pieces Chapter Nineteen

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Kitty
stretched her arms over her head and bounced on her toes, yawning widely.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You want to order pizza?” she asked as Kurt
flopped down on the sofa in the rec room.
It had been seven hours since Jean had been rushed to the hospital and
they had been told very little about her condition.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The doctor had spoken to Scott only, and
their friend had not told them anything more than it was not a heart attack and
she would be taken off the painkillers slowly.
Home again, Kitty found herself almost missing the safety of the
hospital. She dreaded every word that
came out of Kurt’s mouth and could not think of any way to avoid having The
Discussion should he push for it now.

“Ja,
pizza’s good,” he sighed, curling onto his side.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Want me to order?”

“Nah, I’ll
get it…” She padded into the kitchen, her shoes abandoned near the front door
and her sock clad feet making soft thudding noises as she reached the
phone. “Pepperoni for you?”

“Ja,” Kurt
replied, watching her dial. He was quiet
as she ordered several pizzas, enough for everyone at the Institute, and gave
the credit card number to the order taker.
When she shuffled back into the rec room, he tucked his legs up and
patted the sofa cushion next to him with his tail.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You can sit here, Liebes.”

Kitty
hesitated for only a moment before smiling and acquiescing.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She leaned into him, letting him wrap his
tail around her waist as she pressed close.
He was warm, she thought, listening to his heart beat near her ear.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The mansion was relatively quiet, that still
silence that seems to come when there’s a grave illness or a death in the
house. “Kurt,” she said finally, “if you
want to talk…”

“It can
wait,” he sighed. “Katzchen, I’m sorry
for earlier. I was…”

“Testosteronystyle='mso-footnote-id:ftn1' href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="">class=MsoFootnoteReference>class=MsoFootnoteReference>[1],”
she supplied.

Kurt
snorted softly. “Ja, I suppose so… I
just don’t do change well, I guess.” He
trailed his fingertips up and down her arm, moving so lightly that it was as if
he were a ghost touching her. “Let’s
pretend I wasn’t an ass, okay? Let’s
just watch a movie and hope Jean is okay.”

Kitty
nodded against him, not trusting herself to speak.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It would be easy, she knew, to ignore
everything that he had said, ignore the fight and the hurt feelings. She wanted
to ignore it, she wanted to just gloss over it all with a smile and a sweet
touch, but she knew that she could not.
It would fester, like a sore under the skin. It would grow infected and
make them sick and wounded if they just let it go. _Not now, _ she told
herself. _It can wait till I’m back from
Boston. _style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She closed her eyes and sighed as his tail
tightened around her waist. “Do you want
to come to my room tonight?” she asked softly, the words tumbling from her lips
before she even thought of them consciously.

Kurt
shifted, looking down at her with a raised brow.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Are you propositioning me, Miss Pryde?” he
teased, tickling her ribs lightly. “Mein
Mutti warned me about fast women…”

Kitty giggled
softly and swatted his arm. _See? _ she
told herself. _It’s easy to just let it
go and ignore it. _ “Actually, we can,
if you want, but I was thinking we could have our talk in privacy.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She felt him grow still against her and
wondered if he was angry now. “No one
butting in and we can have all the time we need…”

Kurt sighed
and shifted again. “Ja, that’s
fine. What time?”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He did not want to complain but he had been
hoping she would let it go and they could be what they were just a day or so
before.

“If you
come up early, we’ll have all night…”
She kissed his hand, pressing her lips against his palm before returning
it to her hip where it had been resting.

“All
night?” he murmured. “Sounds good
then…” He did not pull away from her as
Jubilee bounded into the room, once again clad in bright yellow, her demure
hospital outfit abandoned on the floor of her bedroom.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Hey, Jubes,” he said, relief tingeing his
voice.

Kitty sat
up, pulling out of his warm grasp and frowning.
“I’m going to go wait for the pizza guy,” she said, standing.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She could not put her finger on it but she
had the feeling that Kurt was uncomfortable with her.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She paused for just a moment, waiting for him
to stop her or offer to go with her, but he simply sat up and turned the volume
of the movie down, already talking to Jubilee in half sentences, a secret
clearly between them. “And then I’m
going to shave my head and become a Hare Krishna…”style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

“Make sure
they didn’t put peppers on it!” Jubilee said, breaking away from Kurt’s
intensity for a moment. “I hate
peppers.”

Kitty
nodded and turned, tears stinging her eyes.
She did not know how, but things had changed.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It hurt, she thought.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She hated Kurt being in a sulk.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He had never been like this before, never
this deep into a mood that he rejected her outright.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> _Everyone has problems, _she reminded
herself. _We’re bound to have a fight
now and then… This is just our first really really
big one… _

“Where you class=SpellE>headin’?” Remy’s low voice rumbled, thick with
sleeplessness and cigarette smoke.

Kitty
turned to face him, smiling politely. He
was sitting on the bottom step, his eyes hooded and hands hanging limp between
his knees. “I ordered some dinner… Just
waiting for it. What’s wrong?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You look blah…”

“One way o’
puttin’ it…”
He sat up, brightening slightly as he looked on her.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You a gal… You got some answers, class=SpellE>je pense…”

She raised
a brow and stepped back as his intense gaze swept over her.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Depends on the questions…”

Remy
laughed, standing and dusting his hands on his coat.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “An’ you smart…style='mso-spacerun:yes'> C’mon, chere, we class=SpellE>gotta talk.”